


the bounds of audience participation

by fangirl_squee



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Other, gig kephart respects the boundaries of parasocial relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 13:31:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21476818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: Echo thinks that Gig is better at respecting boundaries than most people, even if it does stop him from seeing things that are right in front of him.
Relationships: Gig Kep-hart/Echo Reverie
Comments: 12
Kudos: 44





	the bounds of audience participation

It was kind of surprising, it retrospect, that it didn’t come up sooner.

Gig couldn’t do anything even _ approaching _ covert, but he could easily smile his way into and out of a building. People blushed while he was asking them for door codes and asked for his autograph as security was trying to clear the area, becoming blind to the world outside of Gig Kephart. It seemed to happen any time Gig left _ The World Without End _, which was both helpful and not.

It was as incredible to watch as it was utterly baffling, not least because for all the salacious comments, dinner offers, and scribbled down phone numbers he received, Gig, as far as Echo could tell, never went on a single date.

“Oh, yeah,” says Grand, “he’s always been like that. It’s not that he’s not good with people, it’s just that he, I don’t know. He thinks everyone’s just really _ friendly _.”

“I don’t know,” says Echo, “I’ve seen what some of those people have written down with their numbers.”

“But they don’t say it _ outright _ ,” says Grand, “Gig is… he just doesn’t have the temperment for _ nuance _.”

Echo thought about their last trip to Gift-3, how Gig sharp tone had softened when he spoke to some of the younger kids, the ones who hadn’t been around then the group had called him a jerk outright, how he was careful with his words around Vanya, looking to her for approval before he pulled anyone out of the crowd to build or fix something on a stream.

“I don’t know if that’s it,” says Echo.

“I’m fairly sure it is,” says Grand, “When I was on Memorious, I knew someone who was _ obsessed _ with Gig’s streams, totally in love with him, they even did this _ huge _ painting of him, and all he did was show it on stream and say it was nice.”

  
  


“Oh, yeah, I remember that,” says Gig, when Echo mentions it later, “they wanted to send it over to me but it was _ huge _, no way would it have fit in my apartment, not to mention, like, who would want a huge painting of their own face in their apartment?”

“Grand,” says Echo.

Gig lets out a sharp laugh. “Okay, yeah, but that’s not really my style. And it really livened up the corner of the gallery they put it in, I think.”

“They put it in a _ gallery _?”

“Yeah,” says Gig, “apparently they were having trouble getting the space so I kind of negotiated on their behalf, and, uh- oh! Oh yeah, I totally forgot, I had them on stream a couple times after that, although I don’t know if they liked it, they didn’t talk much. I guess some people aren’t good with public speaking stuff?”

Echo’s eyepatch helpfully brings up the old stream, the beaming face of Gig Kephart and a very red in the face looking art student, stumbling over their words every time Gig turned his smile towards them.

Echo huffs a laugh, flipping their eyepatch up and rubbing a hand over their face. “Probably because they had such a huge crush on you.”

Gig laughs. “What do you mean? We’d only just _ met _!”

Echo raises their eyebrows at him. “What do I _ mean _? Gig, people throw themselves at you wherever we go!”

“Who told you _ that _?”

“No one had to tell me, I can see it with my own two eyes”, says Echo, “Grand said he thought it was something to do with a lack of artistic temperament.”

Gig laughs again at that. “Yeah, I guess I've never been one for that, Grand's always been on at me about it.”

“Oh, I don't think he meant it like- Well,” Echo stops themself, “actually, yeah, he probably did mean it like that, but I didn’t.”

“It's okay, I know what I do isn’t anything like what Grand does, I’m definitely not good at any of that kind of _ artistic _ stuff,” says Gig, “but it's like… not everybody needs to make a huge sculpture, and a lot of people need to replace a sink filter. It's not art, but, y'know, people still like it. Enough to keep watching, anyway.”

He's fiddling with the spanner in his hands, looking down at the box of tools. Echo reaches out, touching the inside of his wrist. Gig looks up at them.

“Yeah,” says Echo, “people still like it.”

Gig beams at them. 

They end up helping him with the sink, and a myriad of other bits and pieces, for most of the afternoon, although Gig promises that this was just ship repair and not going towards any kind of instructional video.

It's not until after they're starting to fall asleep that night that they realise he never really answered their question.

  
  
  


They mention it to Even next. 

“He's just not wired that way,” says Even, “some people just don't notice what's right in front of them.”

Even's smiling down at his phone. Echo can see Cascabel's instagram feed reflected in the plates of Even's chest. They're probably not getting his full attention.

“I don’t know if it’s a matter of _ wiring _,” says Echo, “I mean, I’ve definitely seen him flirt.”

Even looks up at that, raising his eyebrows. “With who?”

Echo curled their toes inside their shoes as they thought of the way Gig’s hand had lingered on their’s as they repaired the ship, very glad they didn’t blush easily. They shrugged. “Just… people.”

Even hums, looking back down at his phone for a moment before he looked back up at them. “Maybe it’s just… you know, we travel a lot. Makes it hard to maintain any kind of long term thing.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” says Echo, “I mean, Gig’s pretty dedicated when he likes something. It’s hard to picture him being stopped from seeing someone just because of _ distance _ , and nothing’s really _ that _ far, in the Mirage.”

Even taps his phone against his palm. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“So… what do you think it is?”

Even blinks, looking down at them. “What do I think what is about what?”

“About Gig?”

“What about-” Even’s phone buzzes in his hand, his gaze dropping immediately to the screen.

Echo sighs, rolling their eyes. “Never mind. Tell Cascabel I said hi.”

  
  
  
  


“I’ve never been in a long distance relationship, but I think I’d do okay at it,” says Gi thoughtfully, “after all, the Mirage is a pretty small place, when you think about it, so even long distance isn’t really _ long _ distance. Why?”

“Just curious I guess,” says Echo, “Even and I were talking about it earlier, and I got to thinking.”

“About…?”

Echo shrugs.

Gig bumps their shoulders together, waving away his holokeyboard to turn more towards them. “Hey. Anyone would be lucky to have you, no matter how far away you lived. I mean, you’re probably not even that far away from whoever it is, considering your home is a spaceship.”

Echo blinks. “Wait, I’m not- this isn’t about me.”

“Oh. Okay!”

“It’s not!” says Echo.

“Well, it’s fine if it is,” says Gig, “no one would think you were any less cool for being in love.”

“I’m _ not _ in love,” says Echo.

Gig grins. “Okay.”

“I’m _ not _.”

“_ Okay _.”

“I’m- ugh, whatever,” says Echo, slumping back against the couch and crossing their arms.

Gig copies their motion, flopping backwards dramatically in a way that very nearly makes them laugh. They look down quickly to disguise it, struggling to keep the scowl on their face. They have this problem with Gig a lot. It’s much too easy to smile around him.

He tilts his head. “It really is fine if you _ are _ trying to do something long-distance. Fourteen would probably even make it so our travel paths for missions and stuff went near wherever your person is.”

“I don’t have a person,” says Echo, “I’m my own person.”

“Me too!” says Gig brightly, “But sometimes it’s kind of nice to be your own person with someone else. I mean, this,” he waves a hand back and forth between them, “is nice, right?”

Echo lets out a breath. “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” says Gig, bumping their shoulders together again.

The screen beeps, and Gig looks back towards it, pulling the keyboard back up again. Through the eyepatch, Echo can see a video looping and repeating, different filters being applied with nauseating speed. They flip the eyepatch up.

“How do you even stand that?” says Echo, “I’m getting a headache just from looking at it.”

Gig shrugs, his fingers moving quickly over the hard light keys. “Just used to it, I guess. I’ve been doing it for a long time.” He pauses. “The headache's probably because you’re not used to the eyepatch, I mean, if it’s anything like when I got my eye put in.”

Echo looks at him. “Oh.”

Gig’s gaze flicks to them and then back to the screen in front of him. “What?”

“I guess I just… never thought of you without the, y’know, gross, removable eye.”

Gig laughs. “Most people don’t, I’ve had it for ages! I had a pretty low subscriber count before I got it, I mean, compared to what I have now anyway. There’s probably not too many people who remember me from before I had it.”

“That’s… such a weird way to think about your life.”

Gig makes a face at the screen, but Echo can’t tell whether it was because of what they’d said or whatever it was that he was working on. “I guess.”

  
  


"I understand that," says Signet, "It's easier to think your life that way, to cut it into different sections instead of looking at it as the winding path it actually is."

She carefully sets out the tea cups in front of them, the china so delicate Echo is half afraid to touch them. Then again, as with anything with Signet, the cups are probably much sturdier than they looked. 

"I guess," says Echo, "It still seems like a pretty far way to go for fame."

"But not so far to go to help people," says Signet, "I know I've certainly gone to more extremes than that."

Echo pressed their lips together thinking. "Maybe."

Signet gives them a small smile, turning away a little to pour their tea.

"I guess… I mean, I guess it would explain why people always seem so _ thankful _when they meet him. I always thought it was just more, y'know… flirting."

"It probably is," says Signet, "but in my experience, people can do both quite easily."

  
  


"Oh, yeah," says Gig, laughter bouncing around the vent he’s currently half in. "It's so weird when they say that because it's like, dude, you fixed your own wiring you know?"

"With instructions they got from you though," says Echo, holding the ladder steady. 

"I guess," says Gig, "I never know what to say, like, I'm always just glad people find it helpful, y’know? Can you pass me that?"

Echo passes Gig the wrench, watching the line of Gig's body as he pulls himself further into the vent. They hold the ladder steady, thinking of the crowd that had surrounded Gig when he last went to a market with them, stopping with every person that approached and nodding as they talked about their problems, mechanical or otherwise, and turning what should have been a half hour errand into an all day excursion. It was hard to hold Gig at fault for it though, when every person that approached greeted him like an old friend, some mentioning their screen names. Gig, to his credit, seemed to remember every one, or at least did a fantastic job of pretending he did.

"Is that why you did it? The eye, I mean," says Echo. 

"Kind of," says Gig, voice echoing in the vent, "when they told me about it, you know, going through all the positives and negatives… being able to help that many people at once, like, not just the fleet but _ everywhere _? That rules. I mean, how could I say no to helping that many people?" He pauses. "Okay I think that's done it, coming down."

He grins at Echo, jumping a little off the bottom step, his face streaked with grime and dust. Echo laughs.

"Okay, let's try it now," says Gig, "you want to do the honours?"

"Sure," says Echo. 

They take a breath, their hand hovering over the switch for a moment. Gig drums on the ladder, starling a laugh out of them.

"Okay,” says Echo, “here we go-"

They flick the switch. For a moment, nothing happens, and then the fans kick it, a smooth humming sound instead of the clank-rattle it had made before they'd started that morning. 

Echo grins at him. "You did it!"

Gig grins back, slinging an arm around their shoulder. "_ We _ did it."

"I just held the ladder."

"And I couldn't have done it without you," says Gig, "I think this calls for minor celebration! Come on, Kent sent me some jelly juice."

"Oh, I love that stuff!" says Echo. 

  
  


"So," says Tender, flopping down in front of them. 

Fourteen hovers by her shoulder, their hand fluttering to Tender's shoulder and then back to their side. 

Echo flips their eyepatch up. "Uh, hi?"

"Hi," says Tender, looking at them expectantly. 

"Is… Tender are you okay?"

"Totally," says Tender, "I just, you know, if there's anything you want to talk about, you know, I'm here for you."

"Okay," says Echo slowly. 

Tender looks at them for a moment. "So, do you want to talk about anything?"

"I… not particularly?" says Echo. 

Fourteen clears their throat. "Tender is very good about talking through interpersonal situations."

Echo blinks. "Okay… wait, is this about Grand? Because I apologised for telling him that shirt looked stupid, I didn't think he'd get _ that _ upset about it, I mean, it's just a _ shirt. _"

"No, I- this is about, well." Tender takes a breath, glancing over her shoulder and lowering her voice. "It's about Gig."

"What?" says Echo, sitting up a little, "I just saw him, is he okay?"

"So you admit you were hanging out," says Fourteen, in their lawyer voice. 

"I… yeah? He was helping me with my eyepatch, it's kind of weird to navigate so I- wait, why would that be something I need to _ admit _?"

"Just, you know, checking the situation," says Tender, "you guys have been hanging out a lot, and you know Gig-" She presses her lips together.

"I know what?" says Echo. 

"He… likes hanging out with you," finishes Tender. 

Echo doesn’t need the eyepatch’s readout to know that she’s not being entirely truthful with them, her tail twitching wildly. 

"No, what were you going to say?"

Tender's eyes widen. "Just that he likes hanging out with you."

"He just doesn't really hang out with people on purpose a lot," says Fourteen, "In case they get the wrong idea, I suppose, although in your case it would be the right idea."

"_ Fourteen, _" says Tender. 

"Oh," says Fourteen, "Not like, I mean- oh no. Please forget I said anything."

"I don't think I will," says Echo, "What is… what's the wrong idea?"

"I don't know what you mean," says Fourteen. 

"I think you do," says Echo, "And I don't appreciate being lied to, so if Gig's been lying to me-"

"Oh my god, no, it's not that!" says Tender, "He likes you!"

Echo blinks. "That's… it? You already said that."

"No, I mean…" Tender lowers her voice again. "He _ likes _you, likes you."

Echo is glad they’re sitting down. “What?”

“I kind of thought you already knew,” says Tender, “I mean, his viewers have been saying it since Quire. Gig’s been dodging it, of course, but…” She blinks, leaning forward to look at them more closely. “You really didn’t know?”

Echo swallows. “I don’t, uh, I don’t watch his show, how would I… do you really think… I mean, did he say something to you?”

“Not exactly,” says Tender, “But I used to see him around the Steady now and again. I know how he looks when he likes someone. Plus, he talks about you all the time, so.”

Echo feels themselves flush. “He does?”

Tender nods, looking at them expectantly.

They run their hand through their hair. “I don’t… What exactly do you want me to do with this information?”

“Well, do you like him?” asks Tender.

Echo feels the heat in their cheeks kick up a notch. “I, you know, he’s a nice enough guy, sure I do.”

Tender hums. “Maybe you should let him know that.”

“I’m sure he _ knows _ , I mean, we’re friends, of course I, y’know, _ like _ spending time with him…”

Tender leans forward, putting a hand over their’s. “A lot of people like spending time with him. He doesn’t usually get the chance to spend it back.” She squeezes their hand. “Just… think about it, okay?”

“Sure,” says Echo.

  
  
  


Despite what they told Tender, they try not to think about it at all. Try being the operative word. Instead, they become hyper aware of how often Gig seeks them out, how often they themselves gravitate towards his position on the ship. Gig smiles whenever he sees them, but they try not to read too much into it, after all, Gig smiles at _ everybody _, even if they do get a warm, squirming feeling in their stomach when he smiles at them.

They can’t quite manage to bring up their conversation with Tender, talking around it and abandoning any subject that touches too close, but Echo Reverie has never been someone who backs down from any kind of a challenge for too long.

  
  
  


“I mean, I guess sometimes there is a kind of pressure about it,” says Gig, “I don’t want people to be disappointed when they meet me. People know me pretty much wherever we go, and they’ve already made up their mind that they like me-”

“Not _ everywhere _,” says Echo.

Gig laughs. “Okay, okay. Not everywhere we go. But most places.”

Echo grins. “Still a pretty big brag.”

“No,” says Gig, “Or, okay, yeah, it is, but it’s true too. Brags can be true sometimes, it’s like if someone came up to you and told you that you were great with a sword or super hot.”

“I- what?”

Gig waves a hand. “Yeah, you know, like, it’d be a brag if you agreed, but it would also be true. Just like people liking me. I mean, it’s not totally the same as people getting a crush on your from streams. But, you know, If someone saw you like, fighting and then thought they could take you on, they’d just be kind of an idiot, sure, but it would be kind of mean of you to take advantage of them like that.”

“Okay,” says Echo slowly, “So your solution is to, what, _ never _ date anyone?”

Gig huffs a laugh. “I guess. Or, at least until I’m around another person long enough for them to get annoyed by me.”

Echo bumps his shoulder. “Shouldn’t take long.” They pause. “You’re not that bad, all things considered.”

“Thanks,” says Gig.

“I mean it,” says Echo, “I should know, we were down on Quire together for ages _ and _ I never even _ saw _ any of your streams. I’m completely unbiased.”

“Yeah,” says Gig, smiling at them, “yeah, you kind of are.”

Echo’s toes curl inside their boots, stomach squirming a little. They could feel themselves blush, just a little, probably unseen in the half-light of the Mirage, but they knew.

“Or, maybe not totally,” says Echo, “I maybe, I mean, I definitely think better of you than those Gift-3 kids do.”

“Hey, they’re coming around!” says Gig, “Just last week Vanya said I did a pretty good job on their irrigation system.” He pauses. “Anyway, you can be unbiased and think I’m okay.”

“Sure,” says Echo.

Gig laughs.

Echo licks their lips. Now or never.

“So,” they say, making sure to keep their tone light, “what do your viewers say about _ me _?”

To their surprise, Gig blushes, the flush of colour only visible on his dark skin because of how close Echo is sitting to him.

“They, uh, they think you’re pretty cool,” says Gig.

“Gig,” says Echo, “You know I have the eyepatch now. I could just look it up myself.”

They reach up to flip the eyepatch down and Gig puts a hand out, his fingers lightly brushing their wrist.

“Wait, I uh.” Gig clears his throat. “So it’s- you know, I get a lot of comments, and sometimes someone makes a joke, and then it takes off, and five streams later it’s not a joke anymore it’s like, part of the Gig Kephart lore or whatever-”

“Gig, it’s okay,” says Echo, “whatever people say about me, I can take it. I’m sure I’ve heard worse.”

“If anyone talked shit about you I’d permaban them in a _ second _,” says Gig.

“Then what is it?”

Gig looks away, mumbling something.

“What?”

“They think I…” Gig’s voice drops away, inaudible.

Echo puts a hand on his knee. “Gig.”

“My viewers think I have a crush on you,” says Gig, his eyes still focused on the floor and flush spreading down his neck.

Echo swallows. “Oh.”

“I mean, they say stuff like this all the time, and normally I give the person a head’s up but you’re so _ not online _, y’know, and I don’t want to pull you into that world if you don’t want to go, like, that’s too close to getting you on film and you already said you didn’t want that, so I-”

“What do you say?” says Echo.

Gig blinks, looking up at them. “What do I say to who?”

“What do you say to the, you know-” Echo waves a hand, “to the chat, or whatever, when they say that?”

Gig shrugs, his gaze drifting back to the floor. “I don’t say anything. I feel bad about it, because I like answering audience questions, but it’s… that’s not just about me, that’s about you. It feels like I’d be, I dunno, stepping on your privacy to bring you into it.”

Echo takes a breath in. “And what would you say if it was me asking?”

Gig’s head snaps up. “What?”

“What if I asked you,” says Echo, “Just you and me, no stream, no audience. Just… an answer for me.”

“I…” Gig opens his mouth and closes it again. “Echo Reverie, I think you are basically the coolest person I have ever met.”

“And?”

“And I…” Gig bit his lip. “I kind like you, like a lot, actually.” He looks away, wriggling a little in his seat. “Sorry, I-”

Echo squeezes his knee, huffing a laugh at Gig’s sound of surprise.

“Hey, Gig,” says Echo, “I kind of like you too.”

Gig blinks, a smile blooming across his face. “Really?”

They grin back at him. “Yeah.”

They lean forward, just a little, and Gig meet them halfway, a soft press of the lips deepening as he opens under them. Echo lifts a hand, cupping Gig’s cheek to adjust the angle slightly before sliding to cradle the back of his head, tangling their fingers in his hair. Gig makes a soft sound into their mouth, his hands moving to rest on their hips, hot on the bare skin of their waist.

Gig let out a shaky breath as he leans back. “I won’t tell _ anyone _ about this, not even any of my viewers, I swear-”

Echo huffs a laugh, resting their forehead against his. “You can broadcast it to the Mirage if you want. I know I’m going to tell everyone I possibly can.”

Gig laughs, a bright sound that buried itself in their chest. “Really?”

“Absolutely,” says Echo, “I want everyone to know that famous stream star Gig Kephart has a crush on me.”

Gig laughs again, reaching out to tuck their hair behind their ear. “And I can’t wait to tell the Mirage how stone-cold badass Echo Reverie has a crush on _ me _.”

Echo laughs. “I guess that’s fair.” They pause. “Kiss me again first though.”

Gig smiles, and leans in again to do just that.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi: mariusperkins on most places


End file.
